Science TechnologyFriday, 5 June 2026·The Hindu - Science
Gaganyaan mission: Shubhanshu Shukla, IADT-02 and India’s human spaceflight roadmap
Shubhanshu Shukla said Gaganyaan is a prototype human spaceflight mission, with ISRO targeting a three-member crew, 400 km low-Earth orbit and a mid-2027 timeline.
Key highlights
Direct fact
In June 2026, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, India’s first man on the International Space Station (ISS), said in Bengaluru that ISRO’s Gaganyaan mission is a prototype human spaceflight programme, with a tentative mid-2027 target for a three-member crew to reach a 400-kilometre low-Earth orbit for three days.
Key specifics
- Shubhanshu Shukla was one of the four astronauts on NASA’s Axiom-4 mission and spent 18 days aboard the ISS.
- He became the first Indian on the ISS and the return of an Indian to space after 41 years since Rakesh Sharma in 1984.
- Gaganyaan is planned as a three-member mission to a 400-kilometre low-Earth orbit for 3 days.
- ISRO conducted the second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) in April 2026 at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
- If successful, India would become the fourth nation after the U.S., Russia and China to demonstrate manned spaceflight capability.
Exam lens
Question type: Space programme chronology and match-the-following; remember ISS, Axiom-4, Rakesh Sharma (1984), IADT-02 at Sriharikota, and the mid-2027 Gaganyaan target. TNPSC may ask which test proved safety and reliability before the crewed mission.